Late Season Rally

[Brian Payne]

After finding out we had drawn late whitetail tags in our favorite southern Arizona unit my brother Kevin (KWP), our buddy Ryan, and I not so patiently waited our turn to take to the hills after the grey ghost with anticipation of finding three trophy bucks. Other hunts and guiding commitments limited our scouting opportunities to just a few days but we had spent quite a bit of time in the unit in previous years and knew several areas that we thought could hold the bucks we were looking for. Work and family commitments over the holidays limited our hunting days to several long weekends.

The first weekend greeted us with rain, cold, wind, and fog, making hunting conditions less than ideal and downright miserable at times. Despite the tough conditions we managed to glass quite a few deer and several young bucks, one of which was chasing a couple does which gave us hope that the rut may not be far off. Toward the end of the weekend in the afternoon we were setting up in a new place to glass when out from below us jumped up five does and a big framed buck. The buck made tracks out of the canyon and never presented a good shot but based on what we had seen we decided this was a buck that we would try to locate again. Once again we were pleased to see a buck with does. Seeing a shooter buck ended the first weekend on a positive note and left us looking forward to weekend number two.

With it being the weekend right before Christmas, Kevin could not hunt due to family commitments and Ryan and I could only hunt Friday and Saturday. On Friday afternoon we were glassing the canyon where we had seen the big framed buck when a rancher came riding through the canyon on his horse. We had glassed a small bedded buck not far from where the cowboy was riding so we turned our binoculars to the buck to see how he would react to the rider. As the rancher got closer, the smaller buck stood up. Shortly thereafter another buck stood up that we had not yet seen. This buck was tall and it didn't take long to decide that he was a shooter. As the rancher rode by, the bucks got nervous and moved over the ridge out of site. We moved across the canyon in the direction they had gone and tried to relocate them to no avail. Saturday we got some of the best weather we had seen all hunt but the deer were not very active and we were only able to locate several younger bucks. The second weekend ended with mixed feelings of excitement about seeing a second shooter buck but also the worry of knowing that two of the three weekends we had to hunt were over and we had not yet filled one of our three tags.

The last weekend we were able to get away for 4 and 1/2 days to give it one last shot and putting our tags on some big coues bucks. Our friend Chase joined us to help glass for the end of the hunt. Bad weather was forecasted for Sunday evening and Monday so we knew our best chance would be in the first part of the weekend. Thursday afternoon we moved into the canyon we had seen the two shooter bucks in. We battled sleet and rain but late in the afternoon we glassed up the tall buck we had seen the weekend before. The sun was setting fast as we tried to get in range for a shot. When we got in position to shoot we realized that the buck had moved into a small cut and we couldn't see him. Dark set in and we were forced to back out in hopes of finding him in the morning. The next morning we were settled right back into the same spot trying to find the tall buck. Much to our surprise, instead of the tall buck, the big framed buck was now back in the canyon. After closing the distance a bit Ryan set up for the shot and Kevin talked him through it. Ryan who is typically a very good shot got a little case of buck fever and missed the buck several times at about 450 yards and then finally settled down and killed him at close to 600 as he was just about to go over the ridge as you will see in the video. We had finally killed one good buck. Ryan's buck was chasing does all over the hill side as you will also see in the video. The rut had started!

 

Here are the photos and video of Ryan's buck.

 

 

 

 

That night we took a hard look at our topo maps and decided that the tall buck spent a good deal of his time in a canyon to the south of where we had seen him the two times previously. We decided that we would start in the morning by glassing the canyon to the south and then move back to the canyon we had seen him in before if we hadn't located him yet. The first part of the morning we saw quite a few bucks with does, several of which were respectable bucks in the 80-90" range, but did not find the tall buck. Mid morning we decided to move back into the canyon we had seen him in previously. After several minutes I found the tall buck in almost the exact place we had seen him before. After closing the distance and Kevin talking me through it I was able to put him down with one shot at 540 yds. Two big bucks down!

 

Here are the photos and video of my buck

 

 

 

 

We were excited to have two big bucks tagged but were now facing the dilemma that we had killed both the shooter bucks we had seen with only two days left to hunt. We decided that we would hunt the same general area we had been hunting but go in further to a bowl that looked like good country on the map. The next morning we set up on this bowl and started glassing. On the far other end of the bowl we found a group of deer that looked to have a large framed buck with them. He was very far away and through the spotting scope I thought he might just be a large two point but couldn't tell for sure because of the distance. The buck disappeared into some thick oak trees in the bottom of the bowl. Kevin decided he wanted to get a better look. We spent the middle of the day slowly moving in the direction of where we had seen the buck, glassing as we went. We saw several smaller bucks along the way. Finally in the mid-afternoon we were set up in a place where we could look into where we had seen the buck in the morning. Not too long after I glassed up a bedded buck. Sure enough he was just a large two-point and Kevin decided he didn't want him. Shortly there after Chase glassed up a group of deer with a good buck up the hill from the two-point. Through the spotting scope we could tell that this buck was a heavy three-point with a cheater on his left G-2. With the second to last evening bearing down on us Kevin decided that he needed to try to shoot this buck. We closed the distance and got set up. The buck was running all over the hill side in and out of trees making it hard to get a shot. On top of this, the weather showed up right on schedule and the fog and sleet moved in while we were getting set up. The buck finally stopped for a second and Kevin was able to get a shot off. The buck was hit but it was not a good hit. The buck managed to stay behind trees and between the fog, sleet, and darkness we were not able to finish him off. We hated to leave a wounded buck on the hill side but had no choice but to come back in the morning and try to find him again. The next morning we awoke to rain and snow. We hiked in 2 miles to where Kevin had shot the night before. We were just above the snow line with about two inches on the ground. We glassed for the buck Kevin had hit the night before but could not find him. Chase volunteered to walk over to the hill side where we had last seen the buck the night before in hopes of finding him dead or kicking him up. Sure enough, with Chase almost right on top of him, the buck jumped up not 20 yards from where we had last seen him. He moved into an opening and Kevin was able to finish him off. It took us until the last morning but we were able to go three for three on three good bucks. Our December coues hunt turned out to be all that we had hoped for.

 

Here are the pictures of Kevin's buck. It turned out he had two kickers on his left G-2. We were not able to get video of his buck because it all happened too fast.

 

 

 

Here are a few of all three bucks.

 

 

['Ike']

Those are great bucks, congrats!

[Coues Sniper]

Nice bucks. That first video though, I realize the guy behind the camera had other priorities, but for cryin out loud .

[CouesWhitetail]

Congratulations on all that success!! You guys got some GREAT bucks!! Wow!!

 

fyi, I edited your youtube links since it was showing code and not the player.....when you post youtube videos, all you need is to click on share to get the URL to the video and put that link in your post. The forum will automatically put that into a player and allow people to view it here. You don't have to do any special media insert code or anything.

[swishjth]

You Payne's (and Ryan!) are ridiculous!!

Well done and congrats.

-JTH

[cramerhunts]

Wow those are some seriously awesome bucks! Great job getting it done in a huge way for all three of you to take such beauties. Congratulations!

[tjhunt2]

That was some great video and congratulations to all three of you on really nice bucks. What video camera was you using?

 

TJ

[Pine Donkey]

You guys cleaned up this year! Great bucks, congratulations!

[kwp]

That was some great video and congratulations to all three of you on really nice bucks. What video camera was you using?

 

TJ

I was behind the camera on the two videos. Trying to video, keep tabs on the bucks, and give ranges to the shooter at the same time. That's why the first video gets off track a few times (come on swarovski, we need a combo bino, video camera, rangefinder all in one $$$) The video camera is a Sony Handycam HDR-CX160. It is HD and 30x optical zoom. The youtube videos can be viewed in HD if you change the setting and are willing to wait forever for it to load.

 

Thanks for the kind replies, it was a fun hunt!

[Will K]

WOW...... Congrat's.

[peloncillo]

you guys rock!! Those are some Toads.

[Simple Hunter]

Congrats to the Payne bros! Nice bucks in some nasty weather patterns

[singleshot]

I thought the video was awesome. Great write up and congratulations on 3 fine bucks.

[AZbowhntr]

Those are three awesome bucks. Congrats and great pictures and video.

[steward224]

nice job guys and well done!